


libraries and 7-elevens at midnight

by gaiidre



Series: heroes (who aren't great at their jobs) [2]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Original Work
Genre: Highschool AU, Only God Knows, faerryn is Worried for her friend, he do be Thinkin' tho, is cornelius okay?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:07:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24007111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaiidre/pseuds/gaiidre
Summary: Cornelius is once again staying at the library for the night, but Faerryn is there to check up on him this time.
Series: heroes (who aren't great at their jobs) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1712446
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	libraries and 7-elevens at midnight

The library is quiet as the moon shines through the big, dusty windows, softly lighting up the big building with white light. It’s empty, except for a certain freckled half-elf, who is sitting at one of the tables, a mountain of books surrounding him.

He closes the book he was skimming through in a frustrated manner and puts it to the side, onto the other pile of books that didn’t have what he was looking for. He runs his hand through his hair, letting out a heavy sigh as he picks up another book, opens it, and starts skimming through its content page.

Soon after a loud bang echoes through the large, empty library as Cornelius slams the book down on the desk. He stands up and paces around the area, mumbling something to himself.

The boy freezes when he hears the front door creak open.

“Cornelius?” a hesitant voice echoes, that Cornelius quickly recognises as Faerryns.

“Oh, Faer!” he replies with a bright smile, returning to his cheerful deminer. He rushes to the door to greet her. “What are you doing here so late?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Faerryn replies, her eyes wandering over to the loaded table. “What have you even been up to?” she asks.

“Oh, uh, I was just searching for some information, though it seems like this library doesn’t have what I’m looking for,” Cornelius shrugs, returning to the table and picking up a stack of books from the failed pile, before heading towards the bookshelves to put them away.

“What information were you looking for?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Faerryn watches Cornelius from the side for a few moments as he neatly puts away the books in their right places. 

Oddly enough, for once in his life, he doesn’t say anything, he doesn’t go on on a random ramble about whatever is going on inside his head, doesn’t start talking about his day or what he has been reading up on. He’s just quiet, thinking about something deeply, completely lost in his own thoughts. And while he’s doing that, his smile wavers a little, he slips up and Faerryn can’t help but notice how his smile doesn’t seem to be as bright as usual. 

As he puts away the last book, he seems to return to his senses and flash Faerryn one of his famous cheerful grins.

“Did you need anything specific?” he asks as he goes back to the table, picking up a few more books.

“I just wanted to check up on you,” Faerryn replies, as she watches Cornelius return to the bookshelf. “People apparently haven’t been seeing you around so much anymore, and I couldn’t sleep either way so I decided to check your room, but you weren’t there.” Cornelius hums in reply. He holds himself back from asking why she suddenly cares.

“Well, I’m good! Just staying up longer than it’s healthy, as per usual.”

Faerryn frowns and picks up a few books from the same pile, examining them. They seem to mainly be about philosophy and psychology, though there are some seemingly random books thrown in the mix. She walks up to Cornelius and helps him put them away. There’s another minute of silence, where Cornelius is lost in thought, as quiet as ever. 

“You look sad,” Faerryn blurs out. 

Cornelius seems to be taken off guard by that statement. He takes a moment to figure out how to react, before smiling, as usual.

“Your eyes must be playing tricks on you,” he says, not looking directly at Faerryn. “Afterall, you don’t really see well in the dark,” he adds as he puts in the last book in the bookshelf. He turns to look at the genasi. “I’m not sad, don’t have anything to be sad about.”

Cornelius returns to the desk and sits down in his seat. He picks up a book, leans back in his chair, one foot on the table, the other on the chair.

“You should go back to your dorm and go back to sleep, no? People will start thinking I’m being a bad influence on you, making you stay up so late,” Cornelius jokes, though in his voice there’s a hint of something else that Faerryn can’t really pick out.

“I’ll be fine,” she says. “When was the last time _you_ slept, though?”

Cornelius pauses to think, tapping his finger on the cover of the book he’s holding. 

“I had a few hours of sleep the day before yesterday,” he finally says.

Faerryn frowns. “And when was the last time you ate?” Cornelius is about to open his mouth to answer, but Faerryn interrupts: “Just apples don’t count.”

The boy sighs. “Do you think I keep track of all my meals?”

“I’ll take that as it’s been long enough ago that you’re not even sure.”

Cornelius huffs but doesn’t deny it.

“I’ll be fine, just go to sleep yourself. I’ll get some sleep later.” The boy opens up the book and starts skimming through the content list. He gets interrupted though by Faerryns hand covering the page. Cornelius glances up to meet her worried eyes.

“Let’s at least get you something to eat,” Faerryn says. “Please?”

Cornelius hesitates for a moment but eventually gives in with a vague nod. “Yeah, okay,” he smiles as he closes the book, throwing it onto the table. Faerryn smiles back gently.

Faerryn stands outside the nearby 7/11 as Cornelius is paying for his food. She watches the empty parking lot, listening to the light buzzing of the old street lamp shes leaning on.

Faerryn turns her attention to the entrance of the shop as Cornelius leaves it and stuffs something in his oversized jean jacket, that Faerryn is _certain_ isn’t originally his.

“What did you shoplift this time?” she asks with a glare.

“Chill, it’s just my change,” he says, offering Faerryn a sandwich. “For your knowledge, I don’t steal every time I enter a shop.”

Faerryn looks at him unsure and then glances down at the sandwich. She stares at it, and then at Cornelius, confused.

“Take it, it’s for you,” Cornelius insists. “I have my own,” he adds, showing his own sandwich and tea in his other hand. Faerryn hesitantly takes it, unwrapping it.

“What for?” she asks as they begin walking. Cornelius takes a moment as he takes a bite of his sandwich.

“As an apology,” he says. “And a thank-you, too.” Faerryn hums with a nod, though she’s not completely sure what Cornelius means. He thankfully elaborates.

“I know that I am a handful some- well, most of the time,” he says. “And this is kind of an apology for you having to deal with my shenanigans, as well as a… thank-you... for still staying... regardless... I guess…” Cornelius trails off, his voice going down to a whisper at the end. He lets out a nervous chuckle. “I just realised how dumb that sounds, don’t mind me, I guess I’m talking nonsense because I’m tired.” He takes a sip of his tea as he looks away into the distance.

Faerryn doesn’t comment on it. She’s not fully sure what would be the proper way to react, so she just doesn’t. 

They are quiet for a bit, Cornelius once again uncharacteristically silent and lost in his own little world. Faerryn can’t help but be curious.

“What are you thinkin-”

“The stars are pretty tonight,” Cornelius cuts Faerryn off, though she can’t tell if it’s Cornelius being Cornelius, or if it’s him avoiding the question.

Faerryn looks up at clear night sky. The constellations shine brightly.

“Yeah, they are.”

Before Faerryn knows it, they are at the dorms. Cornelius stops at the building entrance.

“There you go,” he says. “I ate, now you can sleep.”

“And _you’re_ not going to sleep?” Faerryn asks. Cornelius shrugs. “You can sleep at my place, ya know,” she suggests, by now knowing that that would be the best bet to getting Cornelius to get some sleep, especially when he never declines such an offer-

“No, thank you,” Cornelius smiles. Faerryn is taken aback by the answer, not expecting it.

“... No?”

Cornelius shakes his head. “I’ll go back to the library and put the books away.”

“Let me go with and help then, afterwards you can come to my place and we can get some sleep,” Faerryn tries suggesting again.

“Nah, you’re already suffering enough thanks to my bad habits, let’s not mess up your sleeping schedule too, yeah?” Cornelius is grinning, but it doesn’t feel like a joke. Faerryn pauses. And then nods.

“Goodnight, then,” she says as she opens the door to the building. Cornelius waves with a quick “Night!” and leaves as well.


End file.
